Four employees of the O'Berry Neuro-Medical Treatment Center at Cherry Hospital have been placed on investigatory leave after the death of a facility resident Wednesday evening.

The investigation is not the first at Cherry Hospital. In the past year, police have also investigated another patient death last year and accusations of sexual abuse.

Wednesday's death is under internal investigation by the facility's administration and resident advocates. Cherry Hospital's Police Department and the Medicaid Investigations Unit of the state Attorney General's Office are conducting law enforcement investigations.

As is standard procedure, the employees involved in the incident - two health care technicians and two supervisory-level employees - were immediately removed from patient care and placed on paid leave pending the outcome of a full investigation.

An autopsy was performed in Chapel Hill by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which expects to have final results in 90 days.
Abuse is not suspected, but because of federal and state confidentiality laws, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services did not release details of the incident.

"Law enforcement has been called in, and a thorough investigation into this incident is being conducted," said DHHS Sec. Lanier Cansler. "In keeping with our Zero Tolerance Policy, any employee whose actions contributed to the death of this patient will be held accountable. We will also be reviewing our policies to determine if changes are warranted."

Four employees were placed on leave earlier this year while North Carolina officials investigate a patient neglect case that occurred Jan. 27. Another employee was charged in December with felony sexual offense after he was accused of having sex with a patient.

In addition, three employees were fired and 10 others were disciplined after a man died last April after he choked on his medicine and was left in a chair for 22 hours without food, water or medical attention. Two of the terminated employees were later convicted on assault charges.

According to a release, Cansler said he has pursued Gov. Beverly Perdue's goals of public accountability by taking immediate and decisive action in matters of public health and safety issues at the state facilities. On Feb. 4, he instituted a Zero Tolerance Policy for employees regarding the abuse and/or neglect of patients as well as failure to notify the facility's administration in the event of any knowledge of any incidents at all state-operated facilities.

The O'Berry Center is a specialized residential facility for individuals with chronic medical conditions and developmental disabilities.